Xubuntu - Lightweight or No?

[teenytinylinuxgrl]

Hi!

My introduction to Linux has been a custom remix (minimal Ubuntu with LXDE) and I've explored Gnome a little bit. Nice! I tried KDE too but it's very slow on my computer.

I haven't tried Xfce yet and I'm told it's more fully featured than LXDE but not as heavy and resource-hungry as Gnome. Before I try another desktop environment, I just want to know what you guys and girls think.

Please briefly compare LXDE and Xfce for me in a few words and tell me which you prefer and why.

I do love my LXDE, but I'd like it to do a little more than it does. It's "under heavy development" and all that, so I'm sure it'll be getting better and better; and from what I have read on Ubuntu forums, Xubuntu is not any more lightweight than regular (Gnome) Ubuntu.

I'm pretty sure my computer will run it (because it runs Gnome with no problem), but what are the differences?

LXDE vs Xfce?

Thank you in advance,
Amy

[rokytnji]

All I know is that XFCE is tied in closely with Gnome and it has been around for ages. You will have a few more features using XFCE instead of LXDE (which has ties to Openbox). I have ran both Desktops and XFCE is easier to configure (icons and launchers) vs LXDE. LXDE is speedier than XFCE on lower spec systems in Ubuntu. In Zenwalk XFCE runs pretty quick though.

As far as preferences go, hardware requirements figure in to what I use. I am more comfortablew with IceWM config than LXDE but I try to learn new Desktops on my own. I run Fluxbox also.

[oz]

It's a free download and cost nothing more than a blank disk and some of your spare time to try it, so why don't you go for it and let us know how you like it?

[teenytinylinuxgrl]

If I do the

sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

in a terminal, that's the same thing, isn't it? Would I be getting Xfce or the whole Xubuntu package deal?

Thanks,
Amy

[rokytnji]

You will just be adding another desktop choice to your current Ubuntu Install Amy. Refer to the link Below if you are confused any.

Install Xfce (Xubuntu) on Ubuntu Linux :: the How-To Geek

[aperla]

I think the best decision I made when I decided to try linux again was Xubuntu. And that recommendation came from this forum. I had an old distro of RH 9. Thank God I came to this forum. Xubuntu has been nothing but fast and reliable...especially on an older machine that previously had Win XP Pro.....it had so many pieces of spyware and viruses...it couldn't run.....I 'm more interested in the computer doing what I need it to do at a reasonable speed....Xubunto for me, has been better than sliced bread.

[minthaka]

Xubuntu, one of the best choices today. I'm using it since 3 months, and so far it is the best DE in 2009.

[reed9]

Hi!
I haven't tried Xfce yet and I'm told it's more fully featured than LXDE but not as heavy and resource-hungry as Gnome. Before I try another desktop environment, I just want to know what you guys and girls think.

Please briefly compare LXDE and Xfce for me in a few words and tell me which you prefer and why.

I do love my LXDE, but I'd like it to do a little more than it does. It's "under heavy development" and all that, so I'm sure it'll be getting better and better; and from what I have read on Ubuntu forums, Xubuntu is not any more lightweight than regular (Gnome) Ubuntu.

LXDE vs Xfce?

Thank you in advance,
Amy

The main reason Xubuntu isn't much faster than regular Ubuntu, is that they start all the same services and use many of the same applications as Ubuntu, which is to say, GNOME apps primarily. Contrary to popular perception, you can have an XFCE desktop with little to no GNOME dependencies. Unfortunately, some of the more useful things, like managing and automounting removable media, require a lot of GNOME deps.

But, you can still start with a minimal XFCE install and keep it lighter than the full-blown standard Xubuntu. See these articles from Distrowatch.
DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.
DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

An awful lot of the desktop experience has to do with which applications we have installed, and integration of applications with the desktop. Outside of the basics such an a panel and window manager, XFCE has a few applications specific to it, many of which don't seem to be used much - xfmedia comes to mind. LXDE has very few native apps, mostly just the panel and theme manager. The other "standard" bits are outside projects, such as the openbox window manager and pcmanfm file manager. So apps you install and run in LXDE aren't integrated at all into the desktop environment.

My personal preference is to mix and match. I use openbox just as a standalone window manager, but use some XFCE bits, such as the file manager Thunar and xfce4-power-manager.